"According to the latest research from our Wireless Smartphone Strategies service, global Android smartphone profits reached US$5 billion in total during the first quarter of 2013. Samsung dominated and captured an impressive 95 percent share of all Android smartphone profits." Wow.

I'd say you got it backwards. Most people don't care about replaceable batteries or expandable storage, those seem to be concerns of more advanced users. The de facto look of the user experience, may be more of an issue to the general public... who probably does not know, or care, what a CF card or what milliAmp hour are.

I think perhaps, samsung's success has come from having managed to cater to either camp somewhat better than other vendors. Personally, I find their build quality atrocious. But that is a matter of personal taste...